This history of the Strategic Defense Initiative ranges across politics, economics, strategic studies and international relations. It provides the results of research into the SDI interest groups, the distribution of contracts and the politics of influence. It discusses the wider contexts of 'Star Wars', such as alliance management, marketing and domestic politics, and its military spin-offs, especially for antisatellite (ASAT) and 'space control' programmes. The author tests the theoretical literature on the dynamics of the arms race by using SDI as a case study, and draws evidence from sources such as congressional hearings, interviews, the trade Press, restricted briefing papers, and documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act. The book follows the fortunes of strategic defence into the changed global conditions of the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the Gulf War and President Bush's announcement of a refocussed SDI, the Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS).

This history of the Strategic Defense Initiative shows how political, economic, strategic and cultural factors have interacted to shape SDI. It examines new research into the SDI interest groups, the distribution of contracts, and the politics of influence, and explores SDI in terms of alliance management, popular culture and military spin-offs. Throughout, the author tests the theoretical literature on the dynamics of the arms race against the reality of "Star Wars," and draws important conclusions about the motive causes of SDI and its prospects for the 1990s.